I am beginning to wonder if the Rays are holding off on bringing Bossman Junior up until he proves to be more error-proof in the field. Bringing a 19/20 year old kid up and having him make errors could be quite hard on a kid because the press/fans would probably be all over him.

Am I the only one who isn't so high on this kid? And I'm not even sure why I think that he won't be a star. It's a gut feeling, I guess. Does anyone else think that the hype has overtaken his abilities?

Absolutely Adequate wrote:Am I the only one who isn't so high on this kid? And I'm not even sure why I think that he won't be a star. It's a gut feeling, I guess. Does anyone else think that the hype has overtaken his abilities?

(I feel the same way about Zach Greinke)

Personally, not even speaking as a Rays fan, I don't know how you can not think this kid is great. If it's just a gut feeling, then maybe you ate something bad.

If your a stat man how can you argue with these numbers as a 19 year in Triple A:

194 AB's - .320 / .429 / .557 / .986 (11 hr's and 13 sb's)

Also his walk to strike out ratio has gotten better in Triple A then it was in Double A. In AA it was a 1BB/2K ratio, now in AAA it is basically a 2BB/3K ratio. Oh yeah he has hit for a lot more power in Triple A (194 AB's - 11hr's) then Double A (104 AB's - 2 hr's)

So yeah like I said before, not sure how you can argue with that.

Why do you feel the same way about Greinke? He won't strike out a lot but he has looked very good to me.

Last edited by hybrid on Fri Jul 09, 2004 5:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Absolutely Adequate wrote:Am I the only one who isn't so high on this kid? And I'm not even sure why I think that he won't be a star. It's a gut feeling, I guess. Does anyone else think that the hype has overtaken his abilities?

(I feel the same way about Zach Greinke)

i am sold 100 % on upton being a star , but i do agree with you a little on greinke though as i am not sold on him as much.....

Again, I can't say exactly why I don't think he'll be as good as everyone else seems to think. I wonder, for instance, if his power is as real as it's been in the minors. Without any evidence, mind you. I do think that he'll end up being a Derek Jeter type player - it's not like I expect him to be terrible - I do think he'll be above average.

As for Greinke, there's just something that isn't quite right. Maybe it's because his fastball is too straight. Again, I'm not sure. I was just wondering if anybody feels the same way I do.

Absolutely Adequate wrote:Again, I can't say exactly why I don't think he'll be as good as everyone else seems to think. I wonder, for instance, if his power is as real as it's been in the minors. Without any evidence, mind you. I do think that he'll end up being a Derek Jeter type player - it's not like I expect him to be terrible - I do think he'll be above average.

As for Greinke, there's just something that isn't quite right. Maybe it's because his fastball is too straight. Again, I'm not sure. I was just wondering if anybody feels the same way I do.

lol, Just out of curiousity do you always do this, question other teams prospects based on nothing at all? Seriously though how can you question his power on nothing? If you look at the numbers Upton has a lot more power at a younger age then Jeter by quite a bit. So w/ out even being a homer I can say Upton projects to be better then Jeter.

Now that you bring it up though, I think Jeter will do nothing from this point on. Call it a hunch, no evidence, just a feeling I get.

No, of course not. And it's not just other teams prospects, either. I was never high on Reyes or Kazmir, either.

But with minor leaguers, it's difficult to translate their stats accurately. So I form impressions by watching them play (which I've done), looking at their stats (which I've done), and asking around for other opinions (which I'm doing).

And what it boils down to for me is that Upton will be lucky to hit .300, he won't hit 20 home runs, and his steals will top out around 30-35. But it's just a gut feeling right now.

Absolutely Adequate wrote:No, of course not. And it's not just other teams prospects, either. I was never high on Reyes or Kazmir, either.

But with minor leaguers, it's difficult to translate their stats accurately. So I form impressions by watching them play (which I've done), looking at their stats (which I've done), and asking around for other opinions (which I'm doing).

And what it boils down to for me is that Upton will be lucky to hit .300, he won't hit 20 home runs, and his steals will top out around 30-35. But it's just a gut feeling right now.

So lets look at this from what you just said.

-Have you seen Upton play? If so, when?

-Looking at Upton's stats how can you say he will be lucky to hit .300 when he has hit .300 at every level and been young for that level every time he did it.

-Asking around, where have you found anyone credible to say Upton won't do all the things you just said he won't? Cause I have heard from some of the best sources and scouts, neither which have said anything that amount to what you just said.

I have nothing wrong w/ people questioning other prospects merits, but if you are you should prolly have more then a "gut feeling" to back it up. Cause those are some strong claims based on nothing.

P.S. I know it is hard to accurately measure how good someone will be based on minor league stats alone. But when someone like Upton has had this much success, it's pretty hard to question it. Maybe you just don't like prospects that get a lot of hype. Cause Upton, Greinke, Kazmir, and Reyes all had tons of hype.